Book Review: Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

I had never heard of this book until my boss asked me to read it and give him feedback on it. I read this book in less than a week, three or four days actually.

The main character, Gabi Hernandez, keeps a diary of everything going on in her life during her senior year of high school. You learn her story through her diary entries, which is one reason why this book is such a fast read.

Gabi is a very relatable character, going through issues that many teenage readers can relate to. For instance, she’s sending out her college applications and worrying about whether she will be accepted; how she might pay for said college. She has body image issues since she is overweight and turns to food during her times of struggle. Her father is a drug addict, who is in and out of Gabi and her brother’s lives. Writing is definitely her passion, something that she discovers after taking on a poetry based English class at her school, where she meets Martin.

We also learn about her friends, Cindy and Sebastian’s lives through her eyes in her writings. Cindy is becoming another teen mom statistic after a party one night, however, not in the way that you think at first. Sebastian is also struggling with being gay and being ostracized by his family, once he comes out.

This book covers every experience that Gabi has during her senior year — getting her first boyfriend, falling in love, having sex for the first time, family issues, being there for her friends through their struggles and finally the impending experience of graduating and moving away to college.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved Gabi as a character. She’s funny, relatable, and even though at times she looked down on herself, she was still there to help her friends. The diary format of the book is executed really well.

Things that I did not like about this book were at times it seemed to be an overwhelming amount of issues going on within Gabi’s circle. It was almost as if the author was taking all the issues in the world that someone could relate to and put them in the book. Another thing that bothered me at times is that I felt it rushed a bit too much. There were just some instances where I wished there was a bit of a development, but then again this is like a diary, so you can’t have too much detail.

I definitely recommend this book, but I will state there is some cursing language used incase that bothers you. Despite that, it is still a really great book to read.